ELL Lessons: Level 1

Level 1 Unit 1

1.1.1 - Pronouns and Be

In the first movie, the students will meet BrainPOP ESL’s main characters, Ben and Moby, and learn about personal pronouns, and the verb to be.

Grammar Skills:
Personal Pronouns
Be: Present Tense, Affirmative

Lesson Ideas

1.1.2 - Be (Negative)

Moby is putting on a magic show, with Ben as his assistant. As he performs a variety of tricks, Moby and Ben introduce the negative forms of the verb to be in the present tense.

Grammar Skills:
Be: Present Tense, Negative

Lesson Ideas

1.1.3 - Be (Questions)

In this lesson, Moby comes to visit Ben, bringing him a surprise. As Ben tries to guess what’s in the box, students are introduced to the interrogative form of the verb to be.

Grammar Skills:
Be: Yes/No Questions
Be: Wh- Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.1.4 - Adjectives and Prepositions

Moby is walking dogs in the park. As he tries to keep track of all the different dogs, students are introduced to simple adjectives and prepositions of place.

Grammar Skills:
Adjectives: form and place in the sentence
Prepositions: basic prepositions of place

Lesson Ideas

1.1.5 - Commands

Ben coaches Moby in the Robot Olympics, as the students learn the structure of commands in English.

Grammar Skills:
Commands: Affirmative
Commands: Negative
Let's: Suggestions
Let's: Requests

Lesson Ideas

Level 1 Unit 2

1.2.1 - Present Progressive

While Ben is cleaning the room, Moby and the others are having fun outside. As Moby realizes that friendship means helping one another, students learn the Present Progressive.

Grammar Skills:
Present Progressive: Affirmative

Lesson Ideas

1.2.2 - Present Progressive (Neg)

A museum and its dinosaur exhibit serve as a setting for Ben and Moby to tackle museum regulations, and for ESL students to learn the Present Progressive in the negative.

Grammar Skills:
Present Progressive: Negative

Lesson Ideas

1.2.3 - Present Progressive (Ques)

Why is Moby making so much noise? What is he cooking? As ESL students find the answers to these questions, they also learn to ask such questions themselves.

Grammar Skills:
Present Progressive: Yes/No Questions
Present Progressive: Wh- Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.2.4 - Stative Verbs

As Ben and Moby are listening to a rock band they love, they see that Mother is coming home. Now only Moby can save the day! The movie introduces ESL students to the difference between Stative Verbs and verbs that take the –ing form.

Grammar Skills:
Stative Verbs: Present Tense
Stative Verbs / Present Progressive

Lesson Ideas

1.2.5 - Review: Present Progressive

Moby seems to be too busy to help his good friend Ben, but their friendship is so strong that Ben doesn't take no for an answer. The movie reviews many of the grammatical points in the unit.

Grammar Skills:
Present Progressive (Review)
Stative Verbs (Review)

Lesson Ideas

Level 1 Unit 3

1.3.1 - Definite and Indefinite Articles

On a cloudy day, the two friends take a large beach umbrella and go out for a picnic. As our students find out if the umbrella was useful or not, they learn about the importance of these small words: the articles.

Grammar Skills:
Definite Articles
Indefinite Articles

Lesson Ideas

1.3.2 - Adjectives and Nouns

Inspired by the players, the cheerleaders and the spectators at a basketball game they watch on TV, Ben and Moby want to play the game too.This lesson is about plural nouns alongside a review and expansion on the subject of adjectives.

Grammar Skills:
Adjectives II
Nouns: Singular / Plural

Lesson Ideas

1.3.3 - There is / There are

There are strange creatures in the park when Ben and Moby go there with their telescope. The lesson focuses on there is and there are in the positive, negative and question forms.

Grammar Skills:
There is / There are

Lesson Ideas

1.3.4 - Count / Non-count Nouns

"Is there any food in the house?" Ben and Moby return home and ask the same old question that children and teenagers all over the world ask.The lesson focuses on the differences between count and non-count nouns and on the use of some and any.

Grammar Skills:
Count Nouns
Non-count Nouns
Some
How much
Any
How Many

Lesson Ideas

1.3.5 - Review: Nouns and Articles

What happens when Ben and Moby are tired of watching TV and venture out to do something more exciting? The lesson reviews much of the vocabulary, nouns, some determiners and there is/are.

Grammar Skills:
Count / Non-Count Nouns (Review)
There is / There are (Review)
Singular / Plural Nouns (Review)

Lesson Ideas

Level 1 Unit 4

1.4.1 - Present Simple

Mike, Ben's good friend, goes to Spain every summer. Mike's weekly letters from Spain are a good opportunity to talk about languages and habitual activities using the Present Simple in the affirmative.

Grammar Skills:
Present Simple: Affirmative
Time terms

Lesson Ideas

1.4.2 - Present Simple (Negative)

Moby wants to join Ben's cool rock band. As Moby tries to see how he can be useful to the band, ESL students learn the Present Simple in the negative and are introduced to the structure of agent nouns in English.

Grammar Skills:
Present Simple: Negative

Lesson Ideas

1.4.3 - Present Simple (Questions)

Together with Ben, we meet a new character, Moby's pet dog. As Ben inquires about the dog's habits, our ESL students learn how to build questions in the Present Simple.

Grammar Skills:
Present Simple: Yes/No Questions
Present Simple: Wh- Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.4.4 - Have / Has

Does Ben have a best friend? Ben tackles that question while Moby waits in anticipation for the inevitable and comforting answer. While Ben searches for his best friend, our ESL students learn have/has in the Present Simple.

Grammar Skills:
Have / Has: Affirmative
Have / Has: Negative
Have / Has: Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.4.5 - Review: Present Simple

This lesson focuses on the saying "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away" and its implications for both Ben and Moby. The lesson is a review of the Present Simple.

Grammar Skills:
Present Simple (Review)

Lesson Ideas

Level 1 Unit 5

1.5.1 - Possessives

Ben calls Moby to come and join him as he looks through his mother's pictures.As the two friends look at the old pictures of the family and themselves, our students learn the possessives: the possessive adjective and the possessive noun.

Grammar Skills:
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive Nouns

Lesson Ideas

1.5.2 - Tag Questions

It's Ed's birthday, so Ben and Moby go to the mall to look for a gift for their friend. They don't know what to get with the little money they have. While Ben tries to decide what he and Moby should get, he seeks Moby’s opinion by using tag questions.

Grammar Skills:
Tag Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.5.3 - Past Simple Be

Who was the troublemaker when Ben and Moby were little kids? Was it Ben or Moby? It seems that Ben has lost his memory. While Moby helps Ben recall the facts, our students take their initial steps in the past tense with the verb be.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple Be: Affirmative
Past Simple Be: Negative

Lesson Ideas

1.5.4 - Past Simple Be (Questions)

Moby had an accident and Ben wants to find out where, when and how it happened. Moby is a bit reluctant to disclose the circumstances but Ben insists. As Ben continues to inquire, our students are introduced to questions in the past simple using the verb be.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple Be: Yes/No Questions
Past Simple Be: Wh- Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.5.5 - Review: Past Simple Be

It's Nikki's birthday and Ben and Moby want to surprise her with something special. But, as often happens, good intentions don't always work out. This setting serves as a springboard to review the topics of the unit, namely: the different forms of the possessive, tag questions and be in the past.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple, Be (Review)
Tag Questions (Review)
Possessives (Review)

Lesson Ideas

Level 1 Unit 6

1.6.1 - Past Simple (Regular Verbs)

Something strange happened to Ben last night when he arrived home from school. As Ben relates his scary experience to his best friend Moby, our students find out what happened and why Ben was so scared. Meanwhile, they are exposed to the Past Simple affirmative form of regular verbs.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple: Regular Verbs

Lesson Ideas

1.6.2 - Past Simple (Irregular Verbs)

Ben dreamed he was a sailor, sailing on his ship around the world with his good friend Moby. But when he woke up he realized that it was really just a dream. Or was it? As our ESL students follow Ben and Moby in Ben's dream, they learn some irregular verbs in the past and some nationalities.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple: Irregular Verbs
Nationalities

Lesson Ideas

1.6.3 - Past Simple (Negative)

What happened when Ben didn't sleep on Sunday night? As one thing led to another, each day that week brought its new unfortunate incident all because of that one sleepless night on Sunday. This movie is about school, the days of the week and the negative form of the Past Simple.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple: Negative
Days of the week

Lesson Ideas

1.6.4 - Past Simple (Questions)

It's spring, just the right time to go camping. As Ben and Moby sit outside their tents they look through their bags to see what they brought. What did they bring? Moby has three strange items in his bag. Why did he bring them? As our ESL students ask and find answers to these questions, they learn the four seasons and are introduced to the question form in the Past Simple.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple: Yes/No Questions
Past Simple: Wh- Questions

Lesson Ideas

1.6.5 - Review: Past Simple

What happened when Ben and Moby had to go to a party and couldn't find the house keys? Who had the keys last? At first the two friends blame each other, but then they retrace their steps from the moment they opened the door. As we follow the two in their search for the lost keys, our students review the Past Simple and find out where the keys were.

Grammar Skills:
Past Simple (Review)

Lesson Ideas